I think this is one of the places where tabletop system is harder to translate to videogaming.
Its really not ...
This is only the most obvious one, but there is several other cases across the game. :-/
Larian may be great in lots of Ways, but their writing skills ... lets just say there is room for improvements.
//Edit:
Another example is Ketheric:
You beat the shit out of him ... except you didnt.
So you beat the shit out of him ... except you didnt.
So you beat the shit out of him ... and you finaly did.
There is nothing wrong with returning vilain ... or having phased combat ... but stuff like that can be done better.
If you beat the vilain to 0HP ... you expect that you just beat them ...
Once cutscene, where they run away and you are standing there looking at them smiling like an idiot plays ... you feel robed of that wictory.
> Corect way to do this is easy tho ... simply double Boss HP ... and let him run once he is beaten under 50% ... then let him start another fight with the same amount he had after previous battle.
See the difference?
> In first case DM panicked, bcs you are stronger than he expected ... and so he pulled some escape out of his ass, out of sudden. (I know this didnt happen, but it feels that way.)
> In second case, DM had prepared plan for his villain to escape ... and in your next confrontation, there are echoes of your previous battle!
-
Another example is Arabella:
That is something i was complaining about the WHOOOOLE EA ... and yes, it still bothers me ...
You have incredibly limited options to handle the situation.
Either you are smooth talker (Charisma check) ... or the kid will most likely die, and you WILL just stand there, smiling like an idiot, doing nothing, watching the most horrible tragedy happens ...
Even in cases when your character HAVE healing spells ...
Even in case when your character allready HAVE RESSURECTION SPELL !!! ...
Even in cases when your character HAVE poison neutralizing potions ...
Even in cases when your character IS fast enough to ATEMPT to catch/kill/kick/throw themselves in between the child and the snake and getting the bite instead of them ...
None of this matters ... you either do exactly what your DM prepared for, or you fail ... there is no middle ground.
-
I could give you lots of other examples ...
But they are all listed here:
https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=741085#Post741085You decide to do it in EXACTLY the way they wanted you to, but you/your character didn't know that the attempt was always going to be futile.
How should a tabletop DM handle something that?
Exactly as it was suggested at least twice in this very topic ...
Simply dont let people roll.The whole scene we had here could be litteraly exactly the same ... minus the roll ...
1. Dominate the brain.
> cutscene plays out.See? Its not that hard.
If you include roll there, you are telling your player "hey, you actually CAN affect this outcome" ... they can spend spellslots, potions, inspirations and other stuff ... in order to gain that "different" outcome you just promised them BY LETTING THEM ROLL ... and all they get as reward is exactly the same shit.
There is difference between:
Player: I want to persuate King to give me his kingdom.
DM: No, you cant do that.and
Player: I want to persuate King to give me his kingdom.
DM: Okey, roll for it.
Player: Nat 20!
DM: Yeah ... no, you didnt.Its just like when your Boss is promising you extra fat bonus, if you take all night shifts and weekends for one of your colleagues ...
And so you do ... you working your ass off for whole month, exited about that bonus ...
And in the end of the month you get the regular paycheck ... and if you ask about the bonus, your boss simply grins at you and say "got ya" ...
How could anyone expect different outcome than anger and frustration?
In tabletop this is rightfully called toxic DMing ...
Some DMs sadly forgot that they are supposed to play "with" players .. not "against" them.
As I understand it, landing a crit does do something
And what exactly is that?
See, thats the problem.
